Child development domains in unstructured play observation

Christian psychology blends spiritual and scriptural authority with psychological research to provide an ideal framework for observing and understanding child behavior (Meier, Minirth, Wichern & Ratcliff, 1991). Observing a young child shows how children structure their own time when they play, and can also reveal opportunities for parental involvement and intervention. Moreover, child observations reveal the individual differences between children, as no two children are alike. Children are responsive to the world around them and actively involved in the learning experiences. From my observations, I have developed the following thesis: young children\'s unstructured play exhibits their physical, cognitive, and psychosocial domains of development.

Observations

The child I observed is a six-year-old girl named Angel. She is half Asian and half Caucasian. When I observed her, we were in a large open room in the family house. In this room, there is a piano, a television, and about half of her toys. The rest of her toys are in her bedroom. I witnessed Angel for a total of one hour. During this hour I observed several different behaviors including the following. First, Angel played a make believe game with a set of her \"people,\" which are small dolls that lived in a giant house. Each of the \"people\" has a name and an occupation. I noticed that a few of the \"people\" had non-stereotypical gender roles. For example, one of the \"lady people\" built the house. Second, I asked Angel if she wanted to play the piano and she jumped up with an excited look on her face and said, \"Yes! I\'ll show you the new thing I\'m learning!\" Angel played what she was learning on the piano and then asked if I wanted to watch a movie. I said yes, and she deftly found the film she was looking for through the Apple TV system.

Discussion

What I observed in Angel\'s behaviors corroborates \"an emerging consensus among researchers that physical, cognitive, and psychosocial domains of development are all interrelated,\" (Feldman, 2014, Kindle Edition, n.p.). The first observation was of Angel\'s pretend games, a natural and healthy part of child development. Especially at Angel\'s age, make believe remains important for both cognitive and psycho-social development (Kaufman, 2012). Research shows, for example, that \"make-believe games are forerunners of the important capacity for forms of self-regulation including reduced aggression, delay of gratification, civility, and empathy,\" (Kaufman, 2012). Angel did seem to genuinely care about her \"people,\" and also liked involving me in her make believe world.

Next, I observed the way Angel has been learning the piano. The piano requires physical fine motor skills and dexterity, as well as important cognitive features that help children to learn music. Finally, I noticed similar cognitive capacities in the way Angel had mastered the Apple TV system and even how to find her favorite movies on the system.

Spiritual Reflection: Ecclesiastes 3:1